Black Company Wiki:Capitalization policy
The capitalization policy of the Black Company Wiki exists to ensure that the titles of our articles are given the same letter case that appears in the text of the Black Company series itself. The underlying principle is to prevent arbitrary capital letters and to stay true to Glen Cook's source material. To accomplish this, our policy establishes overall rules and also sets out to document example sets of capitalization from the series which could be liable to cause confusion. Overall rules The details of the capitalization policy are as follows: Stay true to the text Words beginning with a lowercase letter in the text of the series shall correspondingly have a lowercase letter at the Black Company Wiki. English grammar still applies The rules of English grammar still apply: the first words of all sentences are still always capitalized. Subtitles and chapter names do not count Neither the subtitles of the novels nor the chapter names are sources for establishing capitalization. Per the book publishing norm, nouns in both of those are capitalized where they are not within the actual text of the Annals. Comparing publications: which to use? If there is a difference between the way a specific word is capitalized when comparing the versions of the novels published in different countries or in different translations entirely, we defer to the latest American English version because Glen Cook is an American author, and the novels were originally published in the United States. If there is a difference between the way a specific word is capitalized when comparing a newer and an older publication of the same material, we defer to the later version. Example set: articles beginning with lowercase letters Because of a technical restriction, all wiki articles start with a capital letter by default. However, the first words of the following wiki articles are not capitalized in the series, and therefore should not be capitalized at the Black Company Wiki, either. Unless of course they are being used at the start of a sentence. *cave of the ancients – This phrase is only treated a proper noun and capitalized as such once: page 55, Soldiers Live. All other appearances it seems to be fully lowercase. Lowercase letters are used for the article title since that is what is present overwhelmingly in the Annals. *consolidation wars *fortress with no name – This whole phrase is written with lowercase letters in the Annals. Only in a few chapter titles of Soldiers Live does this phrase appear with capital letters. But since all nouns are capitalized in those chapter titles anyway, we defer to the case shown in the actual text. *forvalaka *golden pickax *great river *mist projector *new Taken *northern continent – This is a conjectural article title. Since "northern continent" does not appear in the series, we do not invent a proper noun for it. *roi *glittering plain – This is written with lowercase letters in the Annals, as well as less common names like "plain of glittering stone". This is in direct contrast to the Plain of Fear, for which the word "Plain" is always capitalized. The words "glittering stone" do appear with capital letters in the out-of-universe novel subtitles for the four Books of Glittering Stone. Only in a few chapter titles of Soldiers Live do names for this place appear with capital letters. But since all nouns are capitalized in those chapter titles anyway, we defer to the case shown in the actual text. *shadow – Unlike "Unknown Shadows" which is always capitalized, "shadow" is always lowercase. *southern continent – This is a conjectural article title. Since "southern continent" does not appear in the series, we do not invent a proper noun for it. *the Lady's Empire Example set: the collective "wars" articles The word "wars" is consistently capitalized in the novels when used in reference to the Pastel Wars. But, "wars" is consistently lowercase for the following other collective wars articles: *consolidation wars *Kiaulune wars *Shadowmaster wars Example: Shadowgate The word "Shadowgate" is capitalized in both She Is the Darkness and Water Sleeps, but, it is lowercase in Soldiers Live. The inconsistency is not clarified in the Annals, but the following explanations are possible: # Croaker is the Annalist for Soldiers Live, and was exercising his right to diverge from the capitalization of his predecessors Murgen and Sleepy. # "Shadowgate" was capitalized at first because the homeworld gate was the only known such structure until midway through Water Sleeps. It was discussed with gravitas for its apparent historical uniqueness and perhaps capitalized for that reason. But by the time of Soldiers Live, the other 15 such gates had now been discovered and visited by the Black Company. Regardless of the reason for the inconsistency, it is encouraged that the word be capitalized at the Black Company Wiki. Both letter cases are technically acceptable but for simplicity's sake (that is, the automated link suggestion feature) the capital letter S should be used. Category:Community Category:Policy